To perceive the Truth (10 Song Challenge)
by HinataDelDesiertoUchija
Summary: A story of revelations, causes and consequences after the Second Big Bang, there is more to Francis than they thought and they are about to find out. A series of chapters based on ten songs from my music library while it was in shuffle.


The stories are interconnected somehow

**Song: Come Away to the Water by Maroon 5**

_**Come away little lad come away to the water,**_

_**To the ones that are waiting only for you.**_

_**Come away little lad come away to the water,**_

_**Away from the life you that you always knew.**_

_**We are calling to you.**_

Virgil Hawkins aged 17 would never admit to anyone who even insinuated the though but he had always though that Francis Stone was very good looking. Just a change in attitude would have done wonders to his reputation, as it was both Francis and Ebon had died in that fight two years ago. It weighed heavily on his mind that he was not even a legal adult on the eyes of the US government and two lives had already been snuffed out by his inability to act efficiently.

Gear tried to reassure him that there was still the possibility that both of them were alive and just hiding, a far-fetched idea knowing Francis's temper and Ebon's greediness. There was little hope for them to still be out there, he would just have to carry the reminder for all his life working as hard as he could to never make the same mistake again.

The shock box went off and Gear's voice was heard through the speakers, strained to the point where he was sounding a little more high pitched than usual, the police had finally found the place where Hotstreak stayed on the warmer season as he had only grouped with the meta-breed on winter and some parts of Autumn. It took them two years to find the place as it was on the outskirts of the city, making it one of the lasts places they had looked.

"You should come see this" he recognized that tone of voice Richie only used it when he was feeling too much to put on his poker face. Reading himself for a heavy blow to his heart he got on his disk and flew to the place where Richie was waiting for him. 25 minutes into the trip he arrived at the spot, in front of him were two police cars parked in front of an ancient church that had been closed because of renovations that were never done. Touching down on the floor Gear approached him and put a hand to his shoulder, he probably knew what he was thinking right now, the police informed them that they had set up a few lights inside so that they could record everything and that they would be outside when they were ready to leave so that they could take down the equipment.

The police walked away

"V, this is a side to Francis that we never knew but I don't think he was as bad as he made himself to be" that snapped Virgil out of his musings, something had changed the dead set Richie on his opinion of Francis and he was apprehensive and anxious to find out what it was.

"Let's go"

The heavy doors of the church creaked open with effort, Static entered only to be floored by the sight in front of him, all around him were scenes upon scenes painted on the walls of the church all so detailed that they looked as if they would come alive in any given moment. There were several scenes where it depicted the everyday goings of Dakota but other were much more attention catching. By far the biggest of them all, painted in the back of the church just behind where the preacher would stand was scene that made him not only weak on the knees but caused tears to stream down his cheeks, heavy tears that not even his eye mask could hold back, Gear had removed his helmet and was wiping at his face as well but he had already seen this and the blond could only guess what was going through his friend's mind.

The painting showed an enormous tree with thick braches, on several of the branches there were people perched there in various positions, sleeping, laughing, playing a prank, talking or just hanging. On the lower branches where the shade was heavier that anywhere else a human Ebon lay lounging lazily with one arm and one leg falling limply, eyes closed unaware of everything. One branch higher Shiv was hanging by the back of his knees about to put a confused squirrel on Ebon's face, Teresa shared the branch with Shiv holding down his feet with one hand so he would not fall and covering her snickers behind her other hand, mirth obvious in both of their eyes and all malicious intent gone. On the other side of the tree on the same level as Ebon there was Adam and Sharon looking at each other with all the love in the world, holding hands with interlaced fingers and seemingly ignoring the prank but still sharing secretive smiles. On the higher branches there were other Meta humans and normal people alike, Maureen, Maria, Mirage, the Alvas, two people who he assumed were his parents, Mr. and Ms. Hawkins and finally a top of the tree where the light shone the brightest Virgil and Richie sat on a branch one arm over each other grinning goofily and flashing peace signs as if there was a camera in front of them.

Francis was not sitting among the branches, rather he was sitting at the base of the tree head tilted down with a sad smile playing at his face, his green eyes looking forward and piercing the spectator to their very soul. A red thread went out of his left pinkie finger spreading into numerous lines that tangled around all of the people on the tree tying themselves to the pinkies of each of them.

Below the painting lay an inscription carefully written with black paint.

_The red tread of fate connects the lives of people,_

_It doesn't matter for what purpose,_

_Be it for good or for evil,_

_It will continue to expand and touch the hearts of those who are destined to meet,_

_It is for these reasons that I present this; that I create this,_

_To me these are the people are those who have influenced me the most,_

_It doesn't matter if I show it or not; if you know of this or not,_

_To me this is paradise._

_-Francis Jay Stone_

Slumped on the ground Virgil surveyed the rest of the paintings, he appeared in a lot of them either as Virgil or Static. Richie made his appearances as well; people from the city, from the ghetto, from the nearby towns and animals littered the place.

There was Sharon in the market while she bickered with other shopping women for the last piece of something, Adam standing awkwardly in the corner not knowing what to do.

There were the Alvas sharing a paternal moment after they had managed to save Jr.

Mr. Hawkins standing on the court of the Recreation Center, coaching a group of small kids in basketball.

Virgil hiding a yawn in class while Richie slumbered in the background.

Static descending from the skies, all cocky smiles and witty retorts.

Gear talking to the police.

Several members of the police talking amongst themselves, smiling from a joke one of them told.

"He knew" Gear's voice once again snapped him from his thoughts "Our superhero and civilian persona, he knew we were one and the same" at Static's uncomprehending look he gestured to the logo in his chest "whenever you appear as a civilian there is a pin on your jacket with the same logo, whenever you are in there as Static there was the chain from your mother's ring peeking form under your shirt" it was no coincidence, he never wore his mother's ring when he was Static in fear of loosing it while fighting. So Francis had known their identities and didn't say or do anything, it added depth to the pyro and more insight in what might have been crossing his mind ever since the Bang.

"The police let us investigate the back first, they haven't entered"

On unsteady feet and with a tight ball choking up his throat he walked besides Richie to the back o the place were it was the most likely part the red head to have slept. Pushing aside another set of heavy doors they dared not enter the room until the dust had settled. From where they were standing they could see a small cot in one corner, some beat up looking bookcases filled to the top with ancient looking books, and a piece of white canvas stuck to the wall probably used as a screen for the old styled projector in the middle of the room.

He stepped into the room and his feet immediately collided with something thin that snapped immediately, a trip wire he realized mutedly. The sound of something's falling had both superheroes ducking to he ground awaiting a trap.

Nothing happened.

They rose to heir feet.

The projector turned itself on.

Francis Stone appeared in the screen, looking worse for wear and injured.

_So uh… to whoever finds these tapes it is safe to assume that I'm uh… I'm no longer around, most probably dead if everything goes according to plan. It's been some weeks since the cure for the Bang Gas was released into the ambient, most of them are loosing their powers and are growing desperate I figured that Ebon is planning something to get back at full strength, I have yet to know what exactly but I have a good idea; I'll get to that in a moment but first I need to clear some things up first._

_The cure though effective in Bang Babies, is aimed to destroy every mutant gene inside of the human body. They assumed that every meta-human in Dakota was created because of the Big Bang and failed to consider what their cure would do to a born Meta. Wrongly the public has assumed that my pyrokinesis was a product of the Bang but it wasn't I uh… I was born with the ability to produce and control fire_

_*chuckle*_

_I remember being about eight and realizing that not every kid could do what I could so naturally I went to my parents, "Why am I different form the other kids?" I asked with as much seriousness an eight year old could muster, they started laughing and showed me a video of red haired baby cooing at the camera, my mom was trying to make me say something in her native language "lait" which means milk in French, when suddenly I got a case of the hiccups only little tongues of flame were coming out of my mouth, they both froze just waiting for me to wail because I had burned myself but nothing happened I just continued to babble to the camera with flames coming out of my mouth. Suddenly my mom started laughing "Oh my special little boy" she said and the eight year old me could not be happier._

_*sigh*_

_Then a year later the Dakota Riots happened, I was at school that time for Football classes and the training had run a little late; we were going back home when the first shots were being fired, my father panicked and floored the accelerator in an attempt to escape in time. To the gang members it looked like someone from the opposite side was bailing and they took their chance so they shot our car, sometimes I wish those guys had had a better aim then at least all three of us would be alive or dead I don't know. _

_But these guys could not aim a gun for the life of them, they shot a nearby gas tank and it went up in flames effulging our car, killing my parents but not me. Not me because the flames protected me, burned up any toxic gas and bullets that attempted to get to me; the car crashed and I went sailing out the window landing on the street._

_That is how the police found me, little kid standing frozen with a ring of flames around my feet. They dismissed it as a coincidence and I didn't tell them otherwise. _

_I tried… Tried so hard to stay on the right path, its what my father always did but I was so sad, so lost, so… Angry that it became impossible; turned myself into the kind of person I didn't want to be._

His eyes were glassy with unshed tears, one managed to escape trailing a shining track down a dirtied cheek before he looked away and muttered something.

_I got side tracked sorry, The power that I attained form the Big Bang is called Psychometry, had I been a normal human it would have only allowed me to feel the emotions stored within an object however my genetic code was already host to a mutation and it took all too well to the new one, to the extent that not only was I able to feel the emotions but to see the history of everything that I touched. It drove me crazy, when I walked downtown all I could see was the destruction that the Riots caused all the deaths, the sadness and the blood spilled because of the rage between them gangs._

_I really tried to keep it together but when I came to stand where several paramedics died I completely lost it, I knew Ms. Hawkins because she was the one that always answered to the fire alarm in my house, and I was still a kid so my powers were not completely under my control. She pieced it all together, figured out about my mutation and still kept it to herself, I could see it in her eyes but she never treated me any different. She always spoke of her two kids, of Sharon who was on her way to becoming a beautiful woman and of Virgil who was always bouncing around imitating something or the other that he saw on TV more often than not it was superheroes, that her husband was a wonderful man and that she loved her job._

_When I saw her lying there unmoving I just completely lost it, I don't really remember much of this last year my brain has been overcome with all the negative emotions and memories stored within this city, I guess my mind took a rest and my body went into survival mode. Bunking with the meta-breed when it got too cold and finding this place that is far away from the main city, enough that all that is stored within this building are memories of sermons and weddings._

_Gratefully the cure has dampened my Psychometry to the point were I only get brief flashes of things and I decided to make this tapes to bring some light into the matter. I'm not looking for forgiveness; I realize that there are a lot of things I cannot be forgiven for, I only ask for understanding. _

Francis started cough, violet coughs that wracked his whole body and from between his finger little rivers of red escaped, he looked horror struck for a moment before wiping his hand in his pants and looked back into he camera with a wry frightened smile.

_The cure is attempting to remove the mutation that I was born with but my body is fighting with everything it's got. Au contraire of what it did to the Bang ability, that one is fading without a problem because it was never a part of me but my fire has been with me since I was conceived. Because of it my immune system is on the floor and my temperature has been flaring to dangerous levels –even for me who has a body temperature much higher than a normal human- to keep sickness and bacteria from harming me._

_Right now even a simple cold could kill me in a matter of days._

The resigned look in his eyes was something the Virgil wished he could erase form his memory but knew he couldn't.

_Well that is all about me I guess, Ebon is planning to get back to full strength and based on the rumors I have a pretty good idea of what he will do, probably will even ask for my help._

_Now we all know that the first Big Bang was made to look like an accident and the police had no idea that the radioactive tag they launched that day would turn us into what we are now, but it raises the question of "Who planned this?" I still don't know but there have been suspicious movements in the boats that come into the docks._

_I think that they are trying to attract attention to one of the boats that hasn't moved in the last week and if that is true then it will be loaded with more Bang gas. Even more dangerous still the word will spread out on the streets and there is a possibility than normal people will go for a chance to gain powers. I will launch all the fire left in me to consume the gas before it has a chance to change anyone, I'll call in all the favors people owe me in the streets and try to clear the civilians out of it, by the end of the night I hope to have minimized the damage and paid a bit of redemption in the eyes of Dakota._

_Finally to Static and Gear, thanks for stopping me from seriously hurting someone and I'm sorry for all the trouble I have caused._

_I'm Francis Jay Stone…_

_Goodbye_

The screen went black

"He went in knowing that Ebon would get so mad he would kill him," his own voice said.

"There was no way he could have predicted how it would actually ended" Richie was moving around towards of the projector.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm making a copy of the video, there is now way that the police will show this to the public but I think they have a right to know"

"My dad would like to see it"

Francis knew that his best bet was coming out of it dead and he had done it either way, they had assumed and believed what the public said about the red head; not even making the effort to look into the truth. What was done was done, but they would make sure that this did not go unheard by the public of Dakota.

_**Come away little lamb come away to the water,**_

_**Give yourself so we may live anew.**_

_**Come away little lamb come away to the slaughter,**_

_**To the ones appointed to see this through.**_

_**We are coming for you.**_

_**We are coming for you.**_


End file.
